Bad experience at LFS

On Saturday, the 17th I had an annoyingly bad experience at That Fish Place, in Lancaster, PA (TFP). I've been a customer there for a number of years, and although this was not my first bad experience it was annoying enough to cause this post and my discontinued patronage.
Saturday morning at TFP was busy because of a 30% of freshwater livestock and a 20% off saltwater/invert sale. The fish room was woefully under staffed. Number 54 was being served and I was number 60. I did not hear any numbers being called over the speaker system so I was trying to keep an eye on the number board while standing at the frag tank getting some tips and information from a fellow customer. I was speaking with him because no staff was conveniently availble to answer questions, and this man seemed quite knowledgeble.
I had my eye on a whisker coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga). These are hard to come by and this one was reasonably priced so I was anxious to acquire it. The number board was at 59 and I was finishing a sentence with the gentlman, when suddenly the number board was at 61. I never hear 60 be called. I immediately went to the counter, but the young lady refused to help me and said I needed to take another number; I ended up with 70. By the time 70 was called, nearly an hour later, my desired coral was gone.
I complained to the manager of the store, a red haired lady, and got the standard, "Gee, I'm sorry about that." Well, that doesn't fix the problem. Before entering the fish room I had placed nearly $300 worth of merchandise in my cart. I politely told the manager that she could reshelve it.
After spending thousands, yes thousands of dollars at TFP over the last 3 or 4 years and getting the same half-hearted response to complaints, I'm done. I'll get my dry goods and equipment online and find another supplier for livestock. I'm sure I'll find a good supplier within 2 hours as I live near NJ and MD.
Having said that, I guess that $3000 is not much when it comes to the reef hobby, but get enough dissatisfied customers that take that kind of business away and any store will suffer. I tried to support my LFS, but apparently TFP didn't appreciate that support enough to treat me properly.

 

I hear you. That would infuriate me! Of course my LFS is never really busy enough for taking a number.

 

The lady at the counter shouldnt have refused you. However once the coral was sold to another person they cannot take it away. I understand their reasoning for that so what they should have done to keep your business was give you a credit or a free frag of your choice or something.

 

A number? like your getting 1/2 lb of roast beef? lol i think thats crazy. It sucks but nothing you can do about it. They were busy, and probably stressed out with the sale.

I dont think i would go to a store where there is a number system to help customers. one being, theres obviously a lot of customers and two kinda shows me there more concerned with more customers, rather than more HAPPY customers. What happened to good ol fashoned customer service. Greeting you with a Hello, and making sure your happy, and always say come back.

Personally ive been to a store where i stood looking at a fish for 45 min w/o being even acknowledged. needless to say i havnt been back. Early in the hobby i made it an effort to visit every store in my area. Roughly 5 within like 5 miles of me, and i quickly saw which ones were good, and bad. Each place has pros and cons, but i judge a store by if i can go there, kick it with some ppl and just talk about whatever. Ill pay an extra 5 bux on a shrimp if i know they care about the fish, me and long term success. Prices fluctuates all over the board.

I have a store for dry goods, and a livestock store. and its the best of both worlds.

 

I hate to say it but it's not their fault that you didn't hear/see your number. I don't think they should have made you take a new number though if you really did go to the counter when #61 was being served like you say you did.

 

I'm shocked that they took an hour to process 9 numbers. That's pretty lame for how busy it was. If they had 2 people working, that's more than 10 minutes per customer. If it was a good sale they should have had 5 -10 people there. That's just bad business.

Most places realize that they are going to be running a sale and will prepare for it.

 

I've only been to TFP once- was not fond of the number system at all. Too hard to keep track of the numbers and make sure your original selection(s) didn't get sold to someone ahead of you. They really just need more help for the size of the place.

You said you're close to MD and NJ, Christiana DE should be a lot closer than Lancaster. Look up Premium Aquatics. They're like 2 blocks from I-95 on RT 4. That's my favorite LFS.